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Storm ready to sweep aside venom-less Antalya Scorpions
The rampaging Storm then went on to beat Ankaragücü 2-0 away in week one and then, a week ago today, defeated the visiting Fenerbahçe Yellow Canaries 3-2 at home in their week two encounter at the Hüseyin Avni Aker Stadium.
But the Storm’s onslaught was halted on Thursday -- not in the Super League, but in the UEFA Europa League -- when they were beaten 2-1 at home by the EPL’s Liverpool and sent packing from all European competitions this season. The defeat was hard to bear for the Storm because the Black Sea lads led the Reds 1-0 up until the final seven minutes of regulation play.
“Things without remedy, should be without regard; what is done, is done,” says Shakespeare’s Lady Macbeth. The Storm cannot reverse the Europa League result, so it has to forget completely about Europe -- which is now a thing of the past -- and look ahead to the Super League with hope.
Wake up, O Scorpions!
The Antalyaspor Scorpions, coached by Şifo Mehmet, have been all over the place this season -- floating like bees and stinging like butterflies. The Scorpions, beaten 4-0 away in the season’s opener by Fenerbahçe, squandered a first half lead to eventually draw 1-1 at home with Sivasspor last weekend.
“We are getting better with every passing day,” Şifo Mehmet said after last weekend’s draw. But Antalyaspor needs to get better faster because things do not seem to be going well.
To make matters worse for Antalyaspor, first-choice keeper Ömer Çatkıç, Tunisian striker Ali Zitouni and left back Yenal Tuncer are among the walking wounded on the team and, therefore, missed training sessions this week. These players look doubtful today.
Brazilian-born striker Sidney Cristiano Dos Santos, also known as Tita, on loan from Ankaragücü, seems to be the only player on the Antalyaspor squad capable of standing on his own two feet. And it was no surprise that Tita scored the only goal for Antalyaspor last weekend. If the Scorpions, as expected, lose to the Storm, then Şifo Mehmet way well start counting his days.
Produce more Gutierrezes
Against Antalya today, Güneş will again be counting on new-found Colombian striker Teofilo Gutierrez to deliver the goods. The lanky Colombian scored all of Trabzon’s three goals against Bursaspor and two against Ankaraspor. He didn’t manage to score against Fenerbahçe, but rediscovered his scoring touch by netting his team’s only goal against Liverpool on Thursday.
If Argentine midfielder Gustavo Colman can deliver incisive passes to the forwards and also try to score himself, Trabzonspor can easily carry the day.
“We have put the Europa League behind us,” Güneş said after Monday’s defeat. “We strove very hard, but it was not to be. Now we are only looking forward to the [domestic] league matches,” he added.
The fact of the matter, though, is that Trabzonspor is putting all its eggs into one basket. Simply put, the Storm has to produce more Gutierrezes. The Colombian, without doubt, is going to be subjected to close marking by the Antalyaspor defenders. Other goal scorers will be necessary to do the scoring if Gutierrez cannot break away from his markers. Kickoff is at 9 p.m.
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